Another Perspective
by Ninfia-Fan
Summary: This story offers insight into just what happened to other people aside from those shown in the SAO anime. We explore the lives of Linmu and Momo Kaname as they struggle to survive in Sword Art Online. Friends will be made and lost throughout their adventure and one death will be the most traumatising of all. Rated T because of some coarse language.


_Chapter 1 - Where Things Begin... And Maybe Don't End._

"Can we log in, Linmu?! Can we?!" A hyperactive voice sounded. The voice belonged a young girl of 13.

"Yes, yes, Momo. It's ready," This voice sounded more mature, less childish, yet full of laughter. The younger girl's sister was two years her senior.

Linmu, as the older girl was known, held up two grey helmets with what looked like a visor on the front. "Put this on, once your lying down. I'll be looking for you, Momo, so don't you worry," she said as she handed the helmet to her sister, who was obviously nervous, "Like I said, don't worry. Why don't you head to the centre of wherever we'll be and I'll find you there."

"O-Ok. Centre of town, got it," Momo spoke as she lay down on her bed in the room. She slipped the helmet on and within seconds was in a comatose-like state. Taking one last look at their small, shabby room, Linmu did the same.

As she felt herself black out, she was greeted by a log-in screen. She entered her credentials and, after a few seconds, her vision was awash with many different colours. This didn't last long, though. Maybe three seconds at most. Finally her vision went black and stayed black.

She could hear voices, loudly, as if they were right next to her. The sun helped a warm wind blow. Finally realising that she had to open her eyes, she saw a crowd gathering around her. Well, not gathering... People were just appearing out of blue light. Looking down at herself, Linmu saw that she wore dark pink shorts, lined with a grey hem and several pockets. She noted that she was wearing a top, the same colour as the pants, which covered her shoulder but sported no sleeves and only just covered her belly-button. She donned grey sneakers and white socks on her feet.

Feeling a weight on her back, she fiddled with it to get it off. In a dark brown sheath was a sword that gleamed in the sunlight, with it's length being around 50cm. It wasn't heavy. In fact, it was incredibly light. Linmu swung it around a bit, mindful of the people around her. The crowd was thickening and quickly, too. Satisfied with the sword for now, Linmu began to take in her surrounding. Pale yellow bricks were the main items used in the buildings and there were dark blue tiles adorning the roofs.

In the centre of the, well, plaza was a fountain spewing water into it's small lipped basin. As she began walking around, Linmu found herself, more than once, having to shove people, albeit gently, out of her way. This crowd was horrendous. Linmu was looking for Momo's telltale hair; the same silver as hers, but tied into a bun.

Having no luck finding such a person, the mid-aged teen began to call around for her sister, "Momo! Momo! Where are you?" Linmu's dark brown eyes scanned the surrounding areas, to no avail.

"Are you looking for me?" Linmu spun to face a girl at her height - 1.65 metres - with brown hair tied back in a loose braid and amber eyes.

"Uh, no. I'm looking for my younger sister. She's about 1.4 metres tall and has silver hair. Sorry for bothering you." With that, Linmu walked off. That girl who seemed to share her sisters name also seemed to share her voice...

She'd barely walked twenty metres when she stopped and spun around again, "Is something wrong?" The girl she'd just talked to was right there, behind her. Linmu didn't even bother to keep the irritation out of her voice. For one, she couldn't find her sister, even after she'd promised and two, she now had an apparent stalker following her.

The girl was silent a moment before a smile spilt her mouth, "Fooled you, sis! But, wow, you're so scary when you're annoyed!" The girl laughed uncontrollably.

"Sis...? But..._you're_ Momo?! Momo Kaname is that you?!" Linmu had but one word to describe her face: shocked. Her mouth was agape, too.

"Yes, sis, it's me!"

"But you... But you look nothing like yourself! And why do you have similar clothes to me? Don't they differ with every person?" Now, Linmu was indeed perplexed.

"That's 'cause I wanted to be as tall as you _and_ surprise you!" Her sister's hyperactive attitude hadn't changed one bit, though, "And these clothes are different. Mine are purple, yours are pink," she stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Yep. That was indeed Momo, alright, acting like a know-it-all and a child who'd just swallowed a tonne of sugar.

"Where should we go?! Huh, sis?!" During Momo's outburst, Linmu had managed to bring up the items menu and appeared to be scrolling through it.

"Check if we have any items. I've got some basic food and also a knife. There's also some crappy armour made of leather... Really, it wouldn't matter if we wore that or not, for all the difference it would make..." Linmu checked the item list again, but found only those three items.

As she closed the transparent menu, Momo exited the items menu. "I've got the same as-hey, look," Momo had found something, it seemed. Linmu moved closer, about to ask what it was, but Momo continued before she had the chance, "the log-out button is blanked out..." Momo cast a worried glance at her sister.

Linmu had just opened the same menu and was repeatedly tapping the faded log-out button, with no effect. "What's going on?!" She was in a panic, until she saw Momo's glance and forced herself to calm down, "I'm sure the developers are working on it..." Though, Linmu was less than sure and this reflected in her words, as they sounded hollow.

"Why don't we look around, in the mean time? We could get better weapons than one short-sword." This was met with just a nod from Momo, who was now probably wishing she'd entered her true height into the avatar maker. Linmu headed off towards a place that was less crowded; a side street, to be honest. It was shaded from the blazing sun and Linmu was relieved, but Momo seemed like she missed the heat.

"Go on. Go have a look around," Momo didn't move when Linmu spoke, "Like I said, don't worry about the log-out button. I bet it'll be fixed by this evening." That seemed to cheer Momo up, as she ran off to a store that appeared to sell a menagerie of pets. Linmu, herself went to a stall that sold a wide array of daggers. "Welcome to my humble store. Take your time in looking." The man's movements were fluid, but his voice gave him away; strained and robotic. He was an NPC.

One particular set of daggers caught Linmu's eye. The blade along was 40cm long and the hilt added a further 15cm to that. Tapping the space just above that set of daggers, a thin white screen popped up. "Ah. I set you like the Two-Handed Daggers," the stupid NPC spoke even though he didn't need to. The menu itself was much more descriptive: "These daggers are very rare and one-of-a-kind. They allow Dual-Wielding for people who don't have the Dual-Wielding Skill. Price: 10,000 Col."

"I guess the price is so high to make sure that noobs don't get their hands on them." Linmu mulled over the price. Each player seemed to have been given a starting amount of 5,000 Col. Some had obviously gone off and blown it all for one item. A gust of wind blew Linmu's long, loose hair as she hoped that Momo would be smart about how she spent her money.

Loud footsteps echoed down the street as soon as Linmu decided to lean against a wall to wait for her sister. She watched as a group of four men, obviously all adults, came pounding down the street. They headed over to the same store she'd been at a minute ago an instantly looked at the daggers she'd been eying. "Unless you have 10,000 Col, you won't be getting those daggers." Her voice rang clearly in the alley, obviously surprising the men.

"Why should you care, bitch?" Oh, great. She was dealing with people who liked to insult others.

"I care because I also wanted to get those daggers. ...How much Col do you have?" Linmu asked, glaring at the man who called her a bitch.

"1,000 Col between us," the men answered. Linmu did a double take. These idiots couldn't be serious. They'd barely been here for more than an hour and these dimwits were already down to 250 Col each!

Recovering, her composure, Linmu spoke again, "Then there's no way you'll be getting those daggers,"

"How much money do you have, then, bitch?"

"This 'bitch' has a name: Linmu," her voice was filled with disgust, "And, for your information, I still have 5,000 Col. Here's an idea for you next time: don't blow your money in one fell swoop. Save it."

"Don't you talk to your seniors that way, bitch! We're ten years older then you!" The group of four were all glaring at Linmu, who didn't know when to back down.

"In any MMORPG, age doesn't matter," Linmu paused, pulled out her short-sword and swung it around a few times, "skill does."

"You're after those dagger ain't ya?" A different man spoke. Linmu nodded, "Then why are you still here, bitch?" Did they all have the same disorder that forced them to call her a bitch in every sentence?

"I'm waiting for my sister," instantly, the men perked up.

"Is she hot?"

"Is she submissive?"

"Will she follow orders?"

These question were all asked in two seconds, and Linmu's rage was building.

The question that sent her over the edge was asked next, "Does she have big-"

"She's off limits, perverts!" Linmu yelled so loudly that for five seconds after, her voice echoed loud and clear. Now she spoke quietly, "She's 13 and if you come anywhere near her, I'll kill you." Her dark brown eyes were filled with hatred and showed deadly seriousness.

"Fine. We'll stay away from her..." The group of men ran off down the street and into the main plaza, again.

"S-Sis..." Momo's quivering voice sounded from just outside the shop, "Why did you y-yell so loudly...?"

Linmu sighed; now she'd done it, she' done and scared her little sister. Linmu walked over to her sister and enveloped her in a comforting hug, "It's OK. I was just dealing with some idiots. They're gone now," her voice her none of the anger it had just a minute ago; instead, it held only comfort.

A little nip on her finger brought Linmu to see a small, pale purple, long body, just like a ferret. Aside from it's colouring, there was only one, or two, other things making it different from a real ferret; it had horns just above it's ears. The horn were curled, like a Big Horned Sheep's horns, just smaller.

"Who's this?" Linmu inquired.

"Oh, she's Hime. I spent 2,500 Col to buy her. She's so friendly! Did you find anything?" Momo smiled now that her sister wasn't angry.

"I found a set if daggers. They're one-of-a-kind and cost 10,000 Col. I'll have to do some quests or something to get that money..." She trailed off, wondering where quest-giving NPCs were.

"Why don't we go find some quests, then? What if we check out the farm surrounding the Town of Beginnings?" Momo offered. She and Linmu were almost telepathic, it seemed, in their ability to know what the other was thinking.

Linmu agreed and the two headed out the East exit to the city - the closets one. What greeted them the instant they stepped out the gate was a wide open moor with few trees and many rolling hills. On the first hill, barely 500m away, there was a cottage. There were also boar-like creature roaming around.

Unsheathing her short-sword, Linmu spoke, "Take out your sword just in case; I don't know if those boars will attack or not." Once Momo was holding her sword, they set off. Their shadows walked ahead of them, and got ever taller as the sun lowered to the horizon.

They hadn't walked far when a pig's shriek stopped them. A boar was in front of them, pawing the ground, acting like it was going to charge. For the first time, Linmu noticed a HP gauge at the top left of her vision. "I'll take this one."

"Be-Be careful, Linmu!" Momo was clearly worried.

The boar charged at Linmu, who sidestepped and plunged her sword into it's side. The boar swung it's head around and hit her shin with it's skull. Yanking her sword out, Linmu took the opportunity to stab it between the eyes, killing it. Her HP gauge had dropped one-fifth of it's length. A white screen popped up, congratulating her and showing her what she won.

"Winner!

Exp: 100

Col: 0

Dropped Items: Boar Hide x1"

That was what it said. A new bar had appeared below her HP gauge. The Experience Bar. She needed 400 Exp t

"Are you OK?" Momo was now beside her. Get to Level 2.

"I'll be fine. ...Why don't we see what Hime can do?" Linmu had spotted a second boar getting ready to charge them.

"H-Hime?! But she's-"

"A creature with teleportation abilities. She can teleport herself to you no matter the distance and can teleport you up to 20 metres at a time, though it tires her out," Linmu had brought up a menu detailing basic information about Hime. "Stand still; let the boar charge and we'll see if it's true."

Momo was shaking as Linmu moved off so that the boar could lock on to Momo. "You'll be fine. If you get hit, fight back. If not, kill it anyway." Linmu's voice held determination and assurance in it.

The boar charged straight at Momo, who seemed to be on the verge of running, but Hime scurried up on to Momo's head. The ferret's purple fur bristled and it's eyes glowed white.

Momo and Hime were gone. The boar missed. Momo and Hime reappeared on the left side of the boar, who was trying to figure out where they'd gone. Momo had her sword ready and slashed it along the boar's side before plunging it into it's heart. With one last shriek of defiance, it disappeared into nothing.

Hime crawled off of Momo's head, though it didn't show any signs of exhaustion. "That was amazing, Hime!" Momo congratulated the ferret-like creature by petting her behind the ears, which Hime approved of.

"I told you it'd work. But don't rely on Hime to always get you out of danger, OK? There's a limit to everything."

"OK, sis," Momo said diligently.

The sun had sunk low in the sky, turning it a blood red.

"We should head back; it's getting dark," Just as Linmu said this, Momo was enveloped in a blue light, then she was gone. Hime, too, had disappeared.

"Momo! Hime! Where'd you-" Her question was cut off as she, too was enveloped in a bright blue light. A second later, she was back in the plaza in the centre of The Town Of Beginnings.

"What's going on?" Linmu saw many thousands of other players also being forced to teleport here.

"Linmu!" Momo's brown hair could be seen with Hime on top as she wove through the crowd.

"Momo, you're ok, right?" Linmu asked as her sister stood beside her.

"Fine. But why are we all here? I mean... Hey, what's up with the sky?" As Momo spoke, some people screamed.

Linmu, herself, was transfixed on the sky as it turned red. Momo gasped, but both girls didn't scream.

Once the sky had turned completely red, what appeared to be blood seeped from the top of the sky. It began to reform into what at first appeared grotesque, but then took on a human shape.

After fifteen seconds, a large, red robed, hooded figure was in the sky, as odd as that seemed.

The person, based on the human-like appearance spoke, "As I'm sure many of you have noticed, you are unable to log out," a murmur rose among the crowd, but the person continued, "This is not a bug or glitch. Sword Art Online has been programmed so that you cannot log out. Also, if you die in this world, you will die in the real world. If the helmet you wear in the real world is removed, the safety feature will be disabled and the microwaves transmitted by it will fry your brain. I repeat, if your helmet is removed or if you are killed in this world, you will die. There is a way to escape, though. Climb all 100 floors of Aincrad and beat the final boss. That is the only way to escape."

The crowd was silent, save for a few people sobbing. The person continued, yet again, "In your inventory, you will find a mirror. Take it out."

Numerous beeps were head as menus were opened. Momo opened hers instantly, but Linmu was more cautious and slow with opening the menu and taking out the mirror, but she did it anyway.

Looking into it, Linmu didn't see her avatar, rather, she saw her true self. Her eyes, rather than being brown, were pale blue and, though her hair remained silver, it was tied back in a pony-tail, though it appeared messy, that was her hair's style. Her height remained the same.

Momo's haired was also silver, though it hung loose, stopping at her shoulders and framing her face. She'd shrunk to a height of 1.4 metres.

"Now that you can see yourselves for who you really are, the game should be all the more enjoyable. Also, 200 people have died already because their helmets have been removed. The only way to escape is to climb all 100 floors of Aincrad and to defeat every boss. If you are killed in the game, you will die in real life. That is all," The large figure was absorbed in blue light and was gone.

Seconds stretched on for an eternity, as the crowd took in what they' dust been told. "Momo, come on," Linmu had regained her composure, but received no response from Momo.

"Momo! We need to go now! People will panic and we don't wanna be here when that happens!" Linmu's voice was a harsh whisper. A murmur among the crowd was goring ever louder. Momo was still unresponsive.

Someone screamed, a bloodcurdling wail, as that person seemed to break into glass. Linmu realised someone must have removed their helmet in the real world. That broke the tension in the crowd, but gave way to panic. People began to back away from the site where that person was. Sensing a stampede, Linmu grabbed Momo's wrist and began to run, pulling her sister behind her.

They hadn't gotten more than twenty metres when the entire crowd began to run. Linmu and Momo, who'd remembered where she was, were jostled around violently, though, fortunately, they'd gotten enough of a head start to get the an alley way quickly.

They sat there for a while as screaming people passed the entrance to the alley. Linmu was holding Momo, who was holding Hime, who was snuggled against her owner's chest. Finally, after what seemed like hours, there were no more people. The sun had long since set and the moon was showing it's white face to the world, accompanied by millions of tiny stars.

Wordlessly, Linmu picked her sister up who had gone back to her own little world, hopefully escaping this hell. Hime crawled up around Linmu's neck and rested there, obviously hoping to provide comfort.

Linmu managed to find an inn with a room free at 100 Col a night. She paid the NPC the fee and headed up to the room. Once inside, she set Momo down on the bed, she went back and locked the door.

"Linmu..." Momo's voice made Linmu turn, "Will we really get back home...?"

Though Linmu had been expecting this type of question, she was still taken aback by it.

"We will..." Though her eyes were directed at the ground, "We will get home," this time, her eyes locked onto Momo's eyes. Though her voice held determination and courage, her eyes were uncertain. And Momo sensed that as she replied with, "I hope so... Goodnight, sis..." And Momo was asleep.

Linmu sighed and walked onto the small balcony. She could still see people wandering around, lost, but most seemed to have had the same idea as she'd had; rent out a place for a while. Doubtless some had set off that night. Linmu would have, too...if Momo could have taken it. Though it had all started out as fun and exciting, this world had now turned to a deadly and dangerous hell. It was a lot for Momo, a girl barely 13 years old, to take in.

In fact, Linmu was having trouble comprehending it, too. A cool wind blew her silver hair in her face. As she brushed it out of her face, she mumbled to herself, "What am I going to do? We need to set out soon, or else we'll never get any stronger; all the good hunting areas will be taken..."

She stood there for half an hour before feeling sleep wanting to overcome her. She crawled into the same bed a Momo and Hime were in and wrapped her arms protectively around Momo. They'd done this many times before in real life, but now it seemed alien to Linmu.

Was that because they were in a place where things had begun, but seemed like they'd never end?

**So what do you think of the first chapter? Constructive reviews are welcome, flames will be ignored. I may update in a week or so, but school goes back this week for me, so it might take longer for me to update.**


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